WITH THE "INVESTIGATOR" 141 



navigators was very faulty. For this, however, he could hardly 

 be blamed, as his identifications were for the most part based 

 on second-hand and erroneous data. He had not the advantage 

 of access to the most important documents, viz., Carstenszoon's 

 diary of the " Pera's " voyage and Tasman's chart of his second 

 voyage, both of which came to light after his time. The onus of 

 the confusion which has arisen lies rather with those carto- 

 graphers who came after him and who treated his obviously 

 tentative suggestions as authoritative statements. 



The " Lady Nelson " was destined to make another appearance 

 in Torres Strait. In 1824, with the double object of extending 

 British commerce with the east and forestalling the suspected 

 intention of the French to claim part of Australia, H.M.S. 

 " Tamar" Captain James Gordon Bremer, was sent out from 

 England to Sydney with instructions to establish a settlement in 

 the vicinity of Melville Island. At Sydney, the " Tamar " was 

 joined by the " Countess of Harcourt" and the "Lady Nelson" 

 commissioned by the colonial authorities to assist in the conveyance 

 of troops and stores. 



The three ships sailed via Cape Grafton, Snapper Island, Cape 

 Tribulation, Cape Flattery and the Howick Islands, passed Cape 

 Melville and the Flinders Islands, and anchored off Cape Direction 

 on 1 2th September, 1824. (SEE MAPS C, B AND E AND ADMIRALTY 

 CHART, No. 2922.) Thence they sailed by Forbes Island and 

 BLIGH'S SUNDAY ISLAND to the BIRD ISLANDS l (i3th September). 

 (SEE MAP B.) From the Bird group they sailed to MOUNT ADOLPHUS 

 ISLAND, where they anchored on I4th September. (SEEMApA.) They 

 had, in the course of the day, passed TURTLE ISLAND, where BLIGH 

 had been with the " Bounty's " launch on a Tuesday (which may 

 therefore be considered his TUESDAY ISLAND, even if he did not 

 name it so). On I5th September the " Tamar " and her consorts 

 passed WEDNESDAY and THURSDAY ISLANDS, got into the open sea and, 

 keeping a westerly course, crossed the mouth of the Gulf of Car- 

 pentaria, to anchor at PORT ESSINGTON on 2oth September. 



So far as his journals and charts show, Bligh (1789) named only 

 Sunday and Wednesday Islands. Lagoon Island, of the Bird 

 group, and Turtle Island, off the mouth of the Escape River, were, 

 respectively, the islands at which he touched on Monday and 

 Tuesday. He named Wednesday Island because he passed it that 

 day on his way to the open sea, but obviously he could not have 

 named Thursday and Friday Islands. There is no Monday Island 

 on modern charts, but there are TUESDAY, THURSDAY and FRIDAY 

 ISLANDS (the Tuesday Island not being where Bligh was on Tuesday), 

 and the question arises, who named the three last ? As regards 



1 Bligh had landed on Lagoon Island, one of the Bird group, on Monday, ist June, 

 1789, and that may therefore be regarded as his Monday Island. 



